TEHRAN - Hossein Alimorad, the head of the international affairs department of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), has said Venezuela is eager to cooperate with Iran in the petrochemical industry, Shana reported on Saturday.

Noting that Venezuela’s petrochemical industry is in dire need of development because of the U.S. sanctions, Alimorad said: “We can achieve good results in this country with very little, very low-risk investment, and I suggest focusing on this area in line with the strategies of the Oil Ministry for expanding foreign markets.”

“In our last meeting with the heads of the country’s petrochemical companies, I suggested that special attention should be paid to South American countries such as Venezuela, which is a very green market”, he added.

Alimorad's remarks came as heading a high-level politico-economic delegation Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Tehran on Friday for an official visit.

Noting that the oil industry’s upstream sector needs a lot of investment, the official said: "Foreign companies and countries are interested in participating in Iran's petrochemical industry, and despite the sanctions, many companies are reaching out to us in this regard."

Alimorad further emphasized that when the government pays special attention to a specific field or industry, foreign investors will also get more interested in that field, adding: “Currently, high-level delegations from different countries and reputable companies across the world are repeatedly visiting Iran to cooperate with our petrochemical industry and knowledge-based companies active in this industry, especially to supply catalysts and chemicals from Iran.”

Back in March, Oil Minister Javad Oji had said that his ministry was planning to attract about $200 billion of investment in the country’s oil industry in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21), relying on domestic capacities and international contracts.

In the field of oil, petrochemical, upstream, and downstream industries, $200 billion of investment is needed, a significant part of which has been provided by 50 contracts concluded so far, the minister said.

The petrochemical industry is one of the most important pillars of Iran’s economy and one of the main suppliers of foreign currency for the country.

EF/MA